


Over the River and Through the Woods

by sartiebodyshots



Category: Falling Skies
Genre: Episode: s05e08, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 07:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4597260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt tries to make it back to Cochise and Dingaan in order to get them to help his family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over the River and Through the Woods

This is his first big, real solo mission.  It’s what he’s wanted forever, especially since Ben started going out on missions, too.  (Ben is a Nerd, and if a nerd can do it, so can he)  His whole family is depending on him.  He’s been waiting and training for this forever.

But Matt Mason is still so scared. 

Even though he knows how to drive a motorcycle, it still feels like it’s shaking too much underneath him.  And is the motor too loud?  What if he’s forgotten how to get back to Cochise?  What if something finds him? 

Matt’s got his gun, and he’s a damn good shot, but he can’t fight off a whole swarm of skitters by himself. 

But he can be brave and fearless like Hal and Ben are.  He knows he can be.  He _has_ to be.  Hal and Ben and Dad need him to be. 

And then: _hoot_.

Suddenly, Matt isn’t riding on his motorcycle anymore. 

He’s alone after the Espheni dropped those walls down.  The woods are big and dark and scary and he doesn’t know if his whole family is dead or what to do.  All he can do is try to remember what his family taught him. 

And when he camps at night he’s all alone with his fire.  Just the owls hooting above him.  Alone alone alone.  Except, he knows the Espheni are out there.  They have to be.  They always are.

Matt is jolted back to now by the pain of falling off his motorcycle.  The bike skids in one direction and Matt flies in another. 

He falls to the ground and gets back up, ignoring his injuries.  The bike is sputtering and making weird noises that worry Matt.

He tries to push the bike up, and he just manages to do so when the engine stops working.  Matt straddles the bike and tries to get it going.  The engine sputters and dies.

Matt gets off, chest heaving, and looks at the bike.  He’s going to be slow on foot, but he doesn’t think he’s smart enough to fix the motorcycle. 

He’s not as slow on foot as he thought, running away from the sound of the owls above him.  His ankle is throbbing and he can practically hear Ben offering to carry him, but Matt is all alone now.  That probably makes him run fastest of all; if he doesn’t get to Cochise soon, he might be all alone in the world. 

When he starts recognizing landmarks, he wants to start screaming for Cochise, but his lungs are burning and there could be Espheni out there.  So he keeps running.

His ankle gives out and Matt eats dirt.  Gross.  But Matt pulls himself up anyway and limps on. 

The only good part of limping is that it means he can breathe a little easier, so once he can see the place where they had made a temporary home, Matt starts to call out Cochise’s name. 

It’s only a minute before Cochise comes running out of the building towards him and Matt definitely doesn’t let out a little dry sob of relief. 

“What has happened?” Cochise asks as he lifts Matt up.

Usually, Matt bristles when people who aren’t his brothers or dad just pick him up without asking, but now he’s so glad to not be alone that he burrows against Cochise’s chest.  “Dad needs you,” Matt manages to say between painful breaths. 

Cochise’s face hardens and he carries Matt towards one of the buildings. 

Matt feels dizzy and distant, almost like he’s going to pass out.  He hopes he doesn’t pass out because then Dad and Hal and Ben won’t get the help they need (and it’d be embarrassing).

“What happened?” Dingaan asks as he runs out of the building at them.

“Matt Mason requires water,” Cochise says. 

“Here,” Dingaan says, unscrewing and then holding out a canteen. 

Cochise takes it from Dingaan and holds the canteen up to Matt’s lips.  “Drink.”

Matt resents being treated like a baby and pushes Cochise’s arm away.  “Get everyone who can fight.  Gotta save them.”  His chest is burning a little less, so the words come out a little easier.

“Assemble the humans,” Cochise instructs Dingaan.  “They will listen to you.”

“Make sure he drinks something,” Dingaan says.  “Matt, you need to drink some water.”

“Go!” Matt says, grabbing the canteen so Dingaan will _move_.  They don’t have any time to waste.

Dingaan runs off and Cochise carries Matt inside. 

“We don’t have time for this!” Matt protests.  “We’ve gotta save everyone!”

“You are injured, and it will take time to assemble everyone and gather the necessary intelligence,” Cochise says calmingly.  “I will tend to your injuries while Dingaan assembles everyone.”

“I’m fine!” Matt says, trying to squirm out of Cochise’s arms and splashing water everywhere. 

Cochise sets Matt down on the ground.  “You are bleeding and you were limping when I discovered you.  Drink water and allow me to help you.”

Matt drinks the water, glaring at Cochise so he knows he’s doing it in an irritated way. 

Cochise grabs a first aid kit.  “May I remove your shoe?”

Matt nods.

Cochise takes his shoe off and starts examining his ankle, rotating it gently.  “Does this hurt?”

Matt shrugs.  It does, but like he’s going to admit it.

Cochise sighs a little.  “I believe it is a sprain.”

“So, wrap it,” Matt says. 

“I believe that I will wait for Dingaan to return,” Cochise says.  “I do not want to accidentally injure you further.”

“You don’t know how to wrap a sprained ankle?” Matt asks. 

“Volm do not sprain their ankles and no one on this planet has asked me to help them with their ankles.  You should not be the first,” Cochise explains.  “But I can clean your head injury.”

“My head injury?” Matt asks.

“You are bleeding from your head,” Cochise says. 

“Oh,” Matt says.  “Oops.”

“This will sting,” Cochise says, wiping at his forehead with a damp cloth. 

“It didn’t sting,” Matt says, raising his eyebrows. 

“That is what humans often say when cleaning each other’s injuries,” Cochise explains. 

Matt just laughs a little. 

“It was quite brave of you to journey here by yourself,” Cochise says softly as he places a bandage on his head.

Matt shrugs.  “When we get back to the camp, I can sneak back in and find Colonel Weaver to get the most up to date intel.” 

“I will go, Matt.  You have done enough,” Cochise says.

“No!” Matt exclaims.  “They hate aliens.  They’ll probably shoot you if they see you.  They won’t shoot me!” 

“Then I will ensure that they do not see me,” Cochise says.  “You must tell me everything you remember about the layout and the members of this military base.”

Matt wishes he was smart and observant like his brothers are, but he still tries to go into as much detail as possible about how the base is laid out.  He feels fainter and fainter, but he keeps talking anyway.

“I’ve gathered almost everyone.  A couple people are still out on patrol, but people are going after them,” Dingaan says.  He hands Matt a sandwich.  “Thought you might be hungry.”

“Thanks, Dingaan,” Matt says.  He kind of feels nauseated, but he eats anyway.  “It’s good.”

“Matt has told me about the layout of the military base and about the numbers of soldiers stationed on the base,” Cochise says.  “I believe that we should move quickly and attempt to surprise them.  They have greater numbers, but we have assets on the inside.  I need you to wrap Matt’s ankle; he has a sprain.”

“We’ve gotta go now!” Matt says.  “You can wrap my ankle afterwards.”

“If we let you attack a military base with an unwrapped, sprained ankle, your father would kill us both,” Dingaan says, taking the bandage. 

Matt sighs.  “Fine.”

“Coming here in the middle of the night by yourself like this was brave, Matt,” Dingaan says as he wraps his ankle up. 

Matt shrugs.  He hadn’t felt brave at all.  He had felt small and dumb. 

Dingaan carefully wraps his ankle while Matt tries not to fidget.  He just wants to go save his family. 

“Okay, now can we go?” Matt says as he puts his shoe back on.   

“We need to form a plan, first,” Dingaan says.  “If we go in there without a plan, we’re likely to get someone killed.”

“We can plan on the way!” Matt says, pulling himself to his feet and then pulling on Cochise.  “Come on!  They’re gonna hurt people!”

Cochise gets to his feet.  “We will save the 2nd Mass.  And we will save your family, Matt.  But we will not be senseless in our rescue.”

“We’ll start loading the truck,” Dingaan says, looking over at Cochise.  “And then we can at least begin our approach.”

“And you should attempt to rest, Matt,” Cochise says. 

“I can help!” Matt protests. 

“It’s going to be a long day,” Dingaan says, “and it seems as if you had a long night.  Sleep.  You can take my blanket.”

“I’m helping,” Matt says firmly.  He doesn’t want to stay here alone. 

“If you don’t rest that ankle, you won’t be able to help anyone,” Dingaan says.

“Perhaps Matt can watch us load the truck,” Cochise says. 

“Okay,” Matt quickly says.  It’s the best deal he’s gonna get.

Cochise scoops him back up and carries him outside. 

Matt watches as everyone loads the van.  The sounds of soldiers yelling is comforting.  It’s better than being alone again, and they’re going to save everyone.

Slowly, reluctantly, Matt starts to fall asleep.  He has nightmares of being too late and being alone again that he can’t wake up from.


End file.
